What satire is not
There are quite a few misconceptions about what satire is. Other genres and devices are often confused with or equated with satire, when in fact they are not equivalent at all. Many of these genres or devices are merely tools which authors often use to build their satire, in the same way that a carpenter would use hammers, nails, and wood to build a bookcase. The distinction is important. These materials would be used to make the bookcase; but if you were asked what a bookcase is, you wouldn't say "Nails and wood" — a lot of things can be made out of nails and wood. A "bookcase" is a set of shelves used to hold books. Another difference between the tool and the thing itself is that the bookcase could have been put together with other materials, such as glass and glue, or bricks and mortar, or even other books. A bookcase is not defined by the materials used to make it; it is defined by its function, which is to hold books. By the same token, satire is defined by its function, and not the tools used to create it. Satire's function is to expose or denounce what the author perceives as an inadequacy, vice, or problem in society. There are many very different ways to achieve this, but these do not define satire. The purpose of this article is to explain the differences between satire and the tools that are commonly used to create it. Satire is not parody Many parodies can be classed as light satires, such as much of the humour found in the sit-com Family Guy. However, not all satires are light, and not all of them are parodies. Parody is one of the many tools used in satire. The important thing to remember is that satire's primary purpose is to expose folly, and parody is very well-suited to this purpose, because it mocks and ridicules. Parody is defined on Dictionary.com as: A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. The genre of literature comprising such works. The purpose of parody is comic effect or ridicule. But those who write parodies are not necessarily trying to attack something, prove a point, or correct a perceived flaw in something. They might just be trying to make people laugh. And they are not necessarily showing contempt. They might have a lot of respect for the work that they are parodying. If they do decide to create a satire, they could present it in the form of a parody, or not. Parodies can be satires, and satires can be parodies, but they are not the same thing. Satire is not comedy Many of the tools suited to satire are also suited to comedy. Parody is an example of this, as are sarcasm and ridicule. Satire is none of these things. Because so many of the tools used in comedy and satire overlap, many people might come to feel that they are the same thing. Indeed, satire and comedy often go hand-in-hand, such as in Pride and Prejudice: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. This opening passage is poking fun at the actual reactions of families in this time period. Anyone who took a moment to think about it, would realize that not all rich, single men are going to want wives. Jane Austen is saying that people act as though this is indeed the case, and even go so far as to believe that the man in question will inevitably marry one of their daughters. No one realizes how foolish this is until she states it in plain terms, making it look humourous. But comedy and satire are different things. Dictionary.com defines comedy as: A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict. The genre made up of such works. Comedy can easily have elements of satire in it, but this is not necessarily the case. And not all satires are comedies. Comedy is designed around the idea of being light and funny, with a happy ending, so as to make people laugh and feel good about what they're reading. Satire is not bound by this stipulation. There are satires that are very serious, and not even remotely funny. Some are quite dark. An example of this is The Screwtape Letters. The Screwtape Letters is a novel by C. S. Lewis, and comprises a collection of letters written by a demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood. The letters contain advice for the nephew on methods to undermine a man's religious faith and draw him towards vice and sin, in order to ensure his entrance to Hell. This novel is a satire that exposes common misconceptions that people make about what it means to be religious. C. S. Lewis is trying to show how these misconceptions can make it easy to fall into the trap of religious hypocrisy. A quote from the novel: The humans do not start from that direct perception of Him God which we, unhappily, cannot avoid. They have never known that ghastly luminosity ... which makes the background of permanent pain to our lives. If you look into your patient's mind when he is praying, you will not find that. If you examine the object to which he is attending, you will find that it is a composite object containing many quite ridiculous ingredients. There will be images derived from pictures of the Enemy God ... There will even be some of his own reverence ... objectified and attributed to the object revered. I have known cases where what the patient called his "God" was actually located ... inside his own head, or in a crucifix on the wall. But whatever the nature of the composite object, you must keep him praying to it—to the thing that he has made, not to the Person God who has made him. You may even encourage him to attach great importance to the correction and improvement of his composite object, and to keeping it steadily before his imagination during the whole prayer. This passage is meant to point out that humans often equate representations of God with God himself, and that if left unchecked, this habit could become a dangerous pitfall, by making us forget what God actually is. This novel is not a comedy. The trained eye might notice the satirical mockery, and find it amusing that Screwtape's analysis is more accurate than most would like to admit. It might make us laugh at our own foolishness. But it will be an uneasy laugh. The Screwtape Letters has not been written or presented in a comedic fashion, the way Pride and Prejudice has. If C. S. Lewis wanted to make it comical, he could have easily done this by making the demons seem like little creatures with horns and tails and red tights. He could have had them know that they were doing wrong. He could have made their actions a matter of instinct rather than learning and intelligence. But the demons as he depicted them live in a morally reversed world, and see what they are doing as the greatest good. Their actions are not merely some evil instinct, which Wormwood's constant need of advice, and the mention of a Training College, makes clear. And, importantly, Screwtape is very intelligent. His explanations of human thought and behaviour are detailed and chillingly accurate. He understands humans the way few humans do. Screwtape is not laughable, the way Jane Austen's characters are. He is not a little demon in red tights. In fact, he even mentions this image as a way that humans distance themselves from the true nature of demons: I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that "devils" are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that ... he therefore cannot believe in you. C. S. Lewis made a conscious decision to make this novel grave and not comical. Screwtape's expertise in manipulating the human mind is unsettling. There is no comic relief. And so we see that satire and comedy are not the same thing. See also What satire is